Cranstons Traditional Shops
Carlisle • 2017 • 230 sqm • 5 weeks on site
Penrith • 2019 • 44 sqm • 10 days on site
Project Overview
Cranstons is a long-established family butchers with over a century of trading history and a strong reputation for quality. Alongside their farm shops, their two traditional high street stores in Carlisle and Penrith were ready for modernisation. The business was undergoing a full rebrand and needed the physical spaces to reflect their updated identity while improving the customer experience and operational flow. These refurbishments formed part of a wider investment into the brand’s future and were the first traditional shops to undergo such extensive upgrades.
Cranstons approached the projects with a clear understanding of their operational needs, but wanted a fresh design perspective. Previously, shop layouts had been handled in-house. A shared contact introduced Jane to the team, who quickly recognised the value she could add, particularly in translating the refreshed branding into the built environment and introducing more innovative material choices.
Jane began each project with a structured concept phase, producing:
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a general arrangement plan (floor plan)
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moodboards to bring the updated brand to life in-store
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a broad-brush budget
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a broad-brush critical path to confirm viability
This process created clarity early on and ensured the fundamentals were agreed before progressing into detailed design.
Material selection focused on elevating each shop while staying true to Cranstons’ traditional character and the quality of their existing shopfits. Using her extensive product knowledge, Jane introduced new finishes that enhanced the customer experience without compromising on durability or compliance, such as sourcing a non-slip floor that met safety standards while avoiding a “commercial kitchen” look.
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Jane managed the tender process for the Carlisle shop, preparing the full drawing package and issuing three tender scopes: refrigeration, building works and shopfit. She attended contractor meetings alongside Philip Cranston and evaluated submissions based on value, capability and finish quality, ensuring the appointed team could meet both the technical requirements and the brand standard.
Once contractors were appointed, Jane coordinated the development stage, refining details, confirming pricing and working with Cranstons’ trading requirements and the main contractor to build a phased programme. This approach allowed the store to remain operational where possible and avoided full closure throughout the Carlisle works.
Following the success of Carlisle, Cranstons appointed Jane to deliver the Penrith Traditional Shop in 2019. Due to the extremely compact size of the site, a full closure was unavoidable, so delivery needed to be swift and timed for an off-peak trading period. Jane used her trusted subcontractors to accelerate the programme and successfully turned the project around in just 10 days, while maintaining consistency with the original Carlisle fit-out.
Both shops were transformed into modern, high-quality retail spaces that brought Cranstons’ updated brand to life and improved the customer experience. The refreshed interiors helped modernise the offer to meet today’s market, strengthening Cranstons’ high street presence and competitiveness.
To maximise impact for investment, Jane retained and reworked key existing elements where possible, including utilising existing counters and recladding them to match the new scheme. The result was a strong visual transformation, improved day-to-day operations and clear commercial value.
From Our Client
"We used Jane for refurbishment projects at our Carlisle food hall, traditional shop on the high street in Penrith, and the 90-seater Café at our flagship Cumbrian Food Hall in Penrith.
Jane provides a great mix of innovative design and project management skills, delivering stylish schemes that work operationally in high footfall, hard-working commercial spaces.
Jane worked closely with our team to understand our business and how the spaces needed to work practically, she works with her own trusted tradespeople and is very hands on, ensuring her projects are delivered on time and within budget."
PHILLIP CRANSTON,
CHAIRMAN, CRANSTONS BUTCHERS + MAKERS
